Hughes, 25, reached 94 mph with his fastball against the Rock Cats, according to general manager Brian Cashman, but was inefficient in throwing 72 pitches over just 3 1/3 innings.

Hughes was placed on the disabled list April 15 with a "dead arm,'' later diagnosed to be right shoulder inflammation.

“It’s still somewhat early,” Hughes said Friday. “I’m supposed to work up to 100 pitches, but not make that jump too quickly. The big thing is I feel good.”

New Britain, the Twins’ Double-A affiliate, scored one run against Hughes, on three hits. Two of those hits were infield singles, but there were several hard-hit outs. Hughes struck out three, but only produced six swings-and-misses and struggled to put hitters away.

An American League All-Star last season, when he finished 18-8, Hughes was shut down with a 13.94 ERA after three starts and was unable to consistently get his fastball over 90 mph.

Regarded as the most dominating pitcher in club history with a franchise-record 2.25 ERA in 2006, Hughes likely will need at least two more healthy rehab starts before rejoining the Yankees.

"His velocity was good, but he's not commanding his pitches yet,'' Cashman said after Hughes' performance Friday. "That will come. He threw pretty well, but he still needs to get himself stretched out and get some more consistency.''

This week marks the second time Hughes has rehabbed with the Thunder since reaching the big leagues.

The Yankees' first pick (23rd overall) in the 2004 draft pitched two games for Trenton in 2007, throwing seven innings and allowing just one earned run with 11 strikeouts.

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The Thunder also received some much-needed reinforcements Monday with the addition of Class-A Tampa pitchers Chase Whitley and Josh Romanski.

Whitley was 0-1 with a 1.68 ERA and six saves for Tampa, while Romanski went 6-5 with a 2.99 in 13 starts.

Only Whitley was officially announced Monday, with former closer Fernando Hernandez relocated to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to make room on the roster.

The move to activate Romanski likely will be made before Hughes takes the mound Wednesday.